The essence of my work is creating connection between authors and readers, work that I love to share with authors who are ready to go deep with their writing. Of course, tightening up and polishing your writing are a vitally important part of your success as an author; readers judge your authority on how well your words have been copy-edited and proofread. Connecting with your readers on a deeper level requires more—it requires that you as an author access the deeper meanings and motivations in your text, your story, and your writing life, and this is where I can help. My first job out of college was copy-editing, and over the 25 years since then, my love for the written word has been central to all the work I do. In the past eight years, through my work in many roles for Story Circle Network—as a writing group facilitator, lifewriting editor, workshop presenter, contest judge, and publishing consultant—I have helped many writers find that deeper level of writing that will let their story truly connect with their readers. My greatest joy has been meeting with memoirists (by phone or in person) as we talk about their goals for their writing and I offer my insights on how they can meet those goals. I look forward to helping you access your deepest aspirations for your writing and make that deep connection with your readers.    More About Jane What I like most about editing: I love the feeling I get during an editorial discussion or an editing session that I'm helping the author to appreciate her own story at a deeper lever, to reach and hold her audience, and to achieve her goals for her writing. When I'm in the zone as I immerse myself in the story, the work becomes effortless. My best advice to writers: Patience and openness! Realize that writing a memoir is a process that can and should change you; you need to come to appreciate the character arc of your own growth and development as the story of your life takes shape in the writing. My favorite genres to edit: Memoir and family history, most definitely. The memoir I am most proud of is my grandfather's, which I edited in 1988 when he was 87 years old. My English grandfather witnessed India gain its independence from the British Empire; his story is a fascinating account of the years leading up to independence and of his many adventures as an early record-breaking climber in the Himalayas. I discovered then that I love the stories of family historians and older memoirists, who are able to look back on history and on their own lives with compassion. Number of years I've been editing: I started editing in 1983, soon after leaving college and before Microsoft Word even existed! One of my very first jobs was as a copy-editor for Chapman and Hall publishers in London (the original publisher of Charles Dickens' books). By the 1980s, Chapman and Hall was a scientific and technical imprint of a larger publishing conglomerate. We used a red pen on paper manuscripts to edit books with titles like, Bus and Coach Management, Numerical Analysis, and The Pick Operating System. Dry stuff but I loved the whole publishing world. I went on to hold various positions in publishing, including Business Manager for the small branch of a major trade book publisher and Fulfullment Manager for Time magazine in Latin America, before starting my own business in 1996. Over the past 13 years since I started offering freelance editing through my publishing services business, technical editing is what has paid the bills. But what I really love is to edit lifewriting, memoir, and family history. Working as an editor for Story Circle Network from 2003-2008 was a blessing because it allowed me to work on what I love and to develop my skills as a lifewriting editor. Edit hard copy or on-screen: I truly appreciate the efficiency of editing on the screen, but when I'm talking with an author about editorial changes that would help her story, nothing beats sitting together and going over a printed manuscript with notes in the margins. There's a place for both paper and digital mark-up. And these days, I generally use a green pen to mark paper manuscripts—green ink is a lot friendlier than red! My "must have" writing reference books: Chicago Manual of Style has been my go-to reference since I started my business. But I'm flexible when it comes to style. After all, I've had to adapt from English usage to U.S. usage. Favorite background music when I edit: Right now, I'm enjoying Toumani Diabate's album, the "Mande Variations". My college-age daughter gave me this CD of the Mali artist's instrumental music. I read online that Diabate is a Kora maestro. Well, I don't know what a Kora is, but I love this CD; it's perfect for editing, with its mellow tones and subtle rhythms and, of course, its absence of lyrics! Editing involves the language-processing parts of the brain to the max, so songs with lyrics could be a distraction. Scene outside the window where I edit: I have two computers and several workspaces in my house. It depends what I'm working on which one I use. If I need to be completely focused on a technical task, I use a desktop computer in our office and (for better or worse) there's no view to distract me. But if I'm working on something that needs a more open-minded approach that invites free-ranging creative impulses, I work on my laptop in a room I call the Garden Room. There are French doors that look out onto the patio and garden. I always have a few pot plants within view on the patio—right now the bougainvillea is in brilliant crimson bloom. Favorite quotes: "Only connect." That's the epigraph to E M Forster's novel Howard's End, pulled from a passage in the middle of the story: "Only connect the prose and the passion and both will be exalted." This captures what I'm always trying to do in my work. Memorable fictional character: Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I come back to Jane Austen over and over, because her stories are the stories of my own English forebears and her prose is so intelligent. Most recent blog/website I bookmarked: A lot of my blog reading in early 2009 has been about "the dismal science," as I try to make sense of the economic downturn. I especially follow The Baseline Scenario, but I wouldn't recommend it as light reading! When I've had enough of the economic news, I go to Zen Moments. Currently reading: I have a stack of books by my bed and on my coffee table and I dip into them in a haphazard rotation depending on what's on my mind. Most of them are on spirituality, philosophy, and psychology but sometimes I just want to read about food. The Best Food Writing of 2008, edited by Holly Hughes has dozens of short pieces of delicious food writing mostly reprinted from periodicals—it's perfect for light reading at bedtime. For more serious fare, I'll dip into: The Gift by Lewis Hyde (on the role of the artist in society), The Neverending Quest, by Clare Graves (on human development), Waking Up to What You Do, by Diane Rizzetto (Zen Buddhism), or The Mindful Brain, by Dan Siegel (neurobiology). There are always a few memoirs sitting around my house, including quite a number from authors I've helped. And I just bought Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama—after all it's a must-read for a memoir editor.